Inside Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford’s ‘Intense Personal Friendship’ That Defied Politics (Exclusive)

Though the two were political opponents in the 1976 presidential election, an insider tells PEOPLE that Carter went on to seek advice and support from the man he unseated

Ford connected with The Carter Center in other ways, too, and in June 1983, accepted an appointment as one of 12 members of the organization’s board of advisers.

All told, Carter’s staff estimates that he and Ford joined together on more than 25 projects, including one as recently as 2001: the National Commission on Federal Election Reform. Noting that Carter and Ford were both deemed honorary co-Chairs of the event, Hochman says in reality, “both were active leaders of the effort.”

“The recommended reforms influenced legislation and improved the election process. It wasn’t enough, but it made a difference,” he says.

Of course, the friendship of the two men was enhanced by a similarly close friendship shared by their wives: Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford. That close bond was forged in the mid-1970s when Carter, then the first lady of Georgia, hosted Ford, then the first lady of the country, at the governor’s mansion.

“She was the most distinguished guest we had ever had, but when she arrived, she was so warm and friendly that she immediately put me at ease, and we had a good time together,” Rosalynn later recalled of Betty.

Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford Shared an Unstoppable 40-Year Friendship: ‘A Formidable Duo’

They, too, had causes they shared, including advancing mental health initiatives and addressing and preventing substance abuse.

“Their personal respect and enjoyment of each other was significant,” Hochman says, adding that the two even asked one another to speak at their funerals (a request also shared by their husbands).

True to their promise, Rosalynn delivered a stirring eulogy for Betty at her 2011 funeral, saying, “Historians have said that our husbands, Jimmy and Jerry, developed a closer relationship than any other presidents after leaving the White House. I think Betty and I had a similar relationship.”

Years earlier, in 2007, President Carter spoke at President Ford’s funeral.

“Jerry and I frequently agreed that one of the greatest blessings that we had, after we left the White House during the last quarter-century, was the intense personal friendship that bound us together,” Carter said in his eulogy.

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“The personal relationship developed between the Carters and Fords,” says Hochman, “is especially poignant all these years later, in light of the political division that’s unfolded since.”

“The example of their working together in a nonpartisan spirit of patriotism and service is what we can and should continue today and in the future.”